Short Shifters

[BMWbeauty416]

Wondering about thoughts and who maybe has short shifters - mostly wondering about the word that a Z3 shifter can be moded to fit without to much trouble and reduce throw by somewhere around 30%

thanks

~*Teg*~

[ZeroG]

Originally Posted by BMWbeauty416

Wondering about thoughts and who maybe has short shifters - mostly wondering about the word that a Z3 shifter can be moded to fit without to much trouble and reduce throw by somewhere around 30%

thanks

~*Teg*~

I think it is great little notchy. But deffinetly shorter. I know some people have done the Z3 thing.

-Chad

[PettitWC]

I don't have one but I've been looking at them too.

[L84THSKY]

I installed the M-coupe shifter last summer. The BEST $50.00 you can spend on your car. You will need to bent the selector arm. I have posted pics of the shifter previously, and even a video showing me going through all gears while driving.

Originally Posted by BMWbeauty416

Wondering about thoughts and who maybe has short shifters - mostly wondering about the word that a Z3 shifter can be moded to fit without to much trouble and reduce throw by somewhere around 30%

thanks

~*Teg*~

[2ndBimmer]

I dont have a Z3 shifter (BavAuto one, $$ sheesh) but its worth it!

[BMWbeauty416]

Wow thanks for all the feed back! So overall I guess no matter how you do it everyone has been more than pleased with their short throw.
Just gotta save the money to do it now ;} and thanks L84THSKY I will do a search!

~*Teg*~

[96cali]

Yeah lots of SSK discussion over the years. I also recommend checking out Chris at understeer.com ($75) and someone else had a B&M shifter that they highly praised. Just be sure it keeps your shift knob centered and does not push it right or left- PITA.

[L84THSKY]

That was the tricky part about using the M-coupe shifter. When I put it in, it rubbed the drive shaft. When I bent it to clear the drive shaft, it didn't sit centered, front to back or right to left. My brother and I heated up the selector rod three times before we had the shifter sitting dead center. It was well worth the effort!

Originally Posted by 96cali

Yeah lots of SSK discussion over the years. I also recommend checking out Chris at understeer.com ($75) and someone else had a B&M shifter that they highly praised. Just be sure it keeps your shift knob centered and does not push it right or left- PITA.

[schussey]

B&M B&M B&M!!!!!


...or UUC

[Panzer_M]

chris got me on the UUC Evo III over at understeer.com

and I love it.

[L84THSKY]

This was on the Understeer website.

"Shift Lever Install
The stock shift lever in a BMW is not very "sporty" feeling. The shift throw is pretty smooth, but the length between gears is quite long. This has inspired almost every BMW related tuner to release a short shift kit (SSK) of some kind ranging in price from $200 to almost $1000!!! All of them tout some feature that makes them better than OEM and other aftermarket levers, but the fact remains that the most important part of a SSK is to reduce shift throw length. With that in mind, wouldn't you rather pay $60 or less for a SSK? I know I would, but there's always going to be the folks that feel that they need to spend hundreds on a SSK, those folks can stop reading now."

They are telling you not to spend alot of money on a fancy shifter. So why then would anyone drop down $200.00+ for a non OEM one.

The best upgrades are the ones that work, and save you money. That where a M shifter comes in. The other great deal is fogging the airbox, over all these fancy CAI's.

Originally Posted by Panzer_M

chris got me on the UUC Evo III over at understeer.com

and I love it.

[96cali]

Originally Posted by Panzer_M

chris got me on the UUC Evo III over at understeer.com

and I love it.

Panzer- What's the cost and performance difference between his $75 BMW kit and the UUC? Is the BMW a repackaged Z3 rod?

Shussey- what made you go B&M?

[L84THSKY]

This is all you need, did it last August.

http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/M3Parts.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/M3Shifter.JPG

Originally Posted by 96cali

Panzer- What's the cost and performance difference between his $75 BMW kit and the UUC? Is the BMW a repackaged Z3 rod?

Shussey- what made you go B&M?

[needle332rur]

I used to have a bunch of different e30's and i worked at a BMW resoration shop. we used to take the stock shifters out and have the welder cut and add about a half an inch on the bottom of the shifter. I had another e30 with a bav auto complete shift kit (all the linkages) and to be honest there was not that much of a difference. Also Grassroots motorsports did an artical on short shifters in their e36 m3 and they said that the B&M was the most expensive and the worst. Sometime the product that cost the most is not the best.